Cheap Bluetooth DAC

[l_fairchild]

Hi everyone -- thanks in advance for your advice and input!

I know this is probably sacrilege to many on this forum, but I am looking for recommendations on a cheap bluetooth DAC. Before you crucify me, please let me explain:

I would like to stream background music from my phone to a vintage receiver while I work. Since the whole point is for it to be background music, I want to prioritize convenience over quality. Hence, the desire for bluetooth. And since bluetooth is lossy anyway, I figured it doesn't make sense to invest in an expensive DAC for this purpose. So, any recommendations?

I've looked at the Douk Audio P1 as well as the AIYIMA T2, as well as the FX-Audio DAC-X6, all of which seem fine. But I wonder if I can go even cheaper, lol! I also feel like the vacuum tubes on the Douk and Fosi models are a bit of an necessary gimmick.

Anyway -- sorry if this question has been answered elsewhere already. I did a quick search on the forum but could not find anything on this topic exactly. So any and all advice & input is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[RodantKapoor]

Those little square Logitech bluetooth receivers work very well for about $20 used or $40-ish new.

If you get the itch for a better one, the iFi Zen Blue is great and supports all the newest "Hi-Res" bluetooth codecs.

 

[l_fairchild]

Thanks RodantKapoor!

 

[Nikkotopia]

Is a more expensive Bluetooth receiver such as the iFi Zen Blue worth it if the source is only an iPhone or Kindle Fire? If the streaming service is Hi Res, will the iPhone, Kindle Fire or other devices at that level restrict what the DAC in the iFi Zen Blue can do?

 

[cpt_paranoia]

If the streaming service is Hi Res, will the iPhone, Kindle Fire or other devices at that level restrict what the DAC in the iFi Zen Blue can do?

Yes. Bluetooth has two aspects: the available data rate, and the audio CODEC. There are many versions of both; the latest versions of BT have data higher bandwidths, and can support higher quality audio CODECs; APTX-HD and LDAC. These approach CD quality.

If your transmitting device (phone or tablet) doesn't support the newer BT physical protocols to give the higher bandwidths, you can't use the better CODECs. It's a hardware capability, so s/w updates won't help.

So you need to check what version of BT your phone/tablet supports, and understand that is the best you will currently achieve, regardless of the streaming source resolution; that may need to be downsampled to fit over your BT link.

Now, you might still buy a better BT receiver, looking forward to a new phone that supports better BT...

Read up on Bluetooth version and CODECs on Wikipedia.

 

[ScottFan355]

If you want even more convenience from a lossless alternative you can get a chromecast audio on ebay for $60-70. Then the phone doesn’t need to be near the receiver.

 

[Nikkotopia]

Thanks for the guidance CP. The Kindle HD8 10th generation that I am using to stream om my main stereo system has Bluetooth 5.0 LE and supports AAC, HE AACv1, HE AACv2, AAC ELD, OPUS, MIDI, Vorbis, AMR NB, FLAC, MP3, EAC3, EAC3 JOC, AC-4. So it's not the latest Bluetooth 5.2 and aptX. Maybe a blue tooth receiver with these features, but not the latest and more expensive with aptX would be an improvement over the headphone jack to RCA that I'm currently using?

 

[audiobliss]

The Samsung tablets support aptx and Ldac. I use a small one just for Bluetooth to the ifi zen blue, and it's totally worth it. Amazing sound quality and so simple to use.